Deadly shots at police officers in Kusel: joint action or not?

Lawyer speaks of new evidence

Created: 02/15/2022, 11:19 am

By: Martina Lippl

Police officers are standing at a barrier on Kreisstraße 22 about one kilometer from the scene where two police officers were shot and killed (archive photo).

© Sebastian Gollnow7dpa

The police commissioner (29) and his 24-year-old colleague were shot dead during a traffic check in the Kusel district.

Two suspects are suspected of murder.

Wrongly?

Kusel - Two men are in custody after the deadly shots at the two police officers near Kusel.

Investigators assume that both suspects (32 and 38 years old) acted together.

However, one of the alleged suspects denies having shot himself.

The 32-year-old admitted to the police that he was at the scene of the crime, but emphasized that he did not shoot.

His defense attorney insists his client did not fire any shots.

The first evidence of this would now be available, says lawyer Christian Kessler.

As the

reports, he emphatically contradicts the current status of the investigation, which assumes that two perpetrators shot.

Lawyer: No suspected suspects DNA on murder weapon

"Because according to the latest findings of the forensic investigations, there were no DNA traces from my client on the alleged murder weapons, the silencer, the telescopic sight and the cartridges seized," said lawyer Christian Kessler in the

.

The public prosecutor's office in Kaiserslautern could not initially be reached for a statement, according to the

.

Deadly shots at police officers in Kusel: defender contradicts the investigators' version of the crime

The defense attorney had previously rejected the assumption that both suspects should have shot.

"My client is wrongly in custody," says Christian Kessler, the 32-year-old's defense attorney, on RTL on February 5.

"He stated that he was present at the scene of the crime, but was in no way involved in the crime." His client helped to collect the game, but did not fire any shots at the police officers.

He claims to have performed menial tasks - to have been an assistant.

And: "My client stated that he had never fired a live firearm in his life," said the lawyer.

"He stated that he was at the crime scene at the time of the crime, but also stated that he was in no way involved in the crime, the murder of the two police officers," confirmed defense attorney Kessler on Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR) on April 1. February.

Deadly shots in Kusel: Investigators assume shots from both suspects

In the case of the police officers killed near Kusel, the investigators initially continue to assume that the two suspects acted together.

In view of the dynamics of the events, according to the current state of the investigation, the shots at the two police officers could not have been fired by just one person, Justice Minister Herbert Mertin (FDP) reported to the legal committee in the state parliament on February 11.

The injury pattern and the chronological sequence speak for this.

"There are currently no indications that there could be other parties involved," said Mertin in the state parliament's legal committee.

According to the investigation, the 38-year-old suddenly shot a shotgun in the direction of the police candidate's head and fatally injured her, said Mertin.

"Then the two suspects are said to have opened fire on the officers together, using a shotgun and a single-shot rifle.

The officer was fatally injured by a total of four shots.” On February 8, the inspector of the Rhineland-Palatinate police explained to the Committee on Internal Affairs why the reinforcements for the two police officers only arrived twelve minutes later after the radio call for help.

• Deadly shots at police officers in Kusel

• A police officer (29) and a police officer (24) were shot and killed during a traffic stop on January 31, 2022 at around 4:20 a.m.

• Two suspects (32 and 38 years old) were arrested on the same day.

  There is no evidence of other perpetrators.

• The two suspects are in custody on suspicion of murder.

  According to the investigators, they wanted to cover up a previous poaching.

• The investigations into the course of events on the district road in the district of Kusel (Rhineland-Palatinate) are ongoing.

Kusel: After two young police officers were fatally shot, the investigations are in full swing.

© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

However, the investigation is still at an early stage.

"Hopefully, the investigation will be able to answer the question of why," emphasized Mertin.

"The crime must be cleared up quickly - we owe it to the two dead."

Many questions are initially still open.

While the 32-year-old commented on the allegations, the 38-year-old accused remained silent.

Flowers and candles stand at the scene where two police officers were shot dead during a traffic stop.

© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

After the deadly shots at the police officer and his colleague, there is great sadness and sympathy.

The 29-year-old police commissioner will be buried in his hometown of Freisen (Saarland) on Tuesday.

The memorial service and burial of his colleague who was killed is scheduled for Wednesday.

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